Barbatos has a total of three attacks. A standard physical attack that inflicts comparatively major damage, Body Splash which hits the entire party for physical damage, and Mortar, an even stronger attack which affects the entire party.

Barbatos is known for his high Defense and it also has the highest HP of any regular enemy in the game, which makes it a hard monster to kill. It is difficult to inflict Overkill on Barbatos, because of its large Overkill HP range and tough Defense.

There are several ways to defeat Barbatos. The safest way is to cast Demi (preferably using Doublecast) to bring Barbatos's HP down to a manageable level, before finishing it off with more conventional attacks.

If the player has a weapon with Zombiestrike, they can use it to inflict Zombie on Barbatos, and then cast Curaga on it for several thousand points of damage per casting. Barbatos cannot, however, be destroyed by revivification abilities.

If the player feels they can withstand the threat of Mortar, they can use Armor Break to destroy Barbatos's defenses, but this will only work 50% of the time. If this strategy is used, the player must ensure all characters' HP are topped up as Barbatos will use Mortar capriciously.